


timeless.

by CMQ31



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-27 00:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15012299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CMQ31/pseuds/CMQ31
Summary: Mingyu’s pretty sure something was off about Jeon Wonwoo, the cute third year he’s been crushing on. Unfortunately, he never thought that he'd find out about it in the worst way possible. But then again, what could a regular guy like Mingyu do when he finds out that his senior-slash-crush isn’t that much of a good person?Wonwoo’s life as a vigilante has been going pretty smooth until he finds himself stuck in a predicament; namely Kim Mingyu. However, he was pretty sure that Minghao and Jun are both out for his blood for sort of slipping up. Keyword being 'sort of'.





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> sue me i'm out here writing more and more fics despite not finishing any of the ones i've written the past year oof. n e ways i wrote meanie bc i drank too much coffee earlier and i cant sleep at all even tho im supposed to wake up early to do some chores zzzz
> 
> on a serious note, i hope you'll enjoy this fic!

Mingyu likes to think that staring at Jeon Wonwoo whenever he passes his table during lunch was an acceptable and normal thing to do, despite everything Seokmin has to say about it.

 

 _“Dude…you’re being way too obvious, either he’s dense as hell or you’re just a really sneaky dude. Which is kind of creepy, by the way”_ was what his friend had told him during lunch. In return, Mingyu would tell him to shut up and eat his suspicious-looking tuna sandwich that he had bought from the convenience store near his house.

 

Minghao was indifferent towards him. Though he would roll his eyes every time Mingyu pretended that he wasn’t looking at Wonwoo and was just simply admiring the view of the cafeteria. As if a bunch of loud, sweaty, and messy teenagers were a pretty sight.

 

It was during a Monday noon when Seokmin had brought up Wonwoo once again.

 

Mingyu was sat on his usual table with Seokmin and Minghao, but this time, Seungcheol and Jeonghan, two third year students, had joined them for whatever reason. Mingyu remembered speaking to them during his orientation and they were by far the nicer bunch compared to the other then-second years.

 

“I heard that Wonwoo likes to skip class often,” Seokmin had spoken, as if there weren’t any third years around them. Minghao breathes out a heavy sigh by the time Seokmin finished speaking. “People are saying he’s doing…illegal things.”

 

Jeonghan snorted. “Yeah? Where’d you hear that one from?”

 

The younger shrugs. “Everyone- I mean _everyone_ ’s talking about it. Wonwoo’s like, the talk of the school right now. There’s no way I couldn’t have heard about it.”

 

“Well I’ve never heard about it,” Minghao deadpans.

 

“Same here,” added Jeonghan. Seungcheol was surprisingly quiet, but shrugged nevertheless, indicating that he wasn’t very familiar with the subject as well.

 

This perked Mingyu’s interest. “Wait, but why?” Mingyu wasn’t a complete stranger to Wonwoo. They’ve had a couple of conversations in the past, to the point where Wonwoo allowed him to drop the formalities with him, though Mingyu was sure the latter had yet to consider him a friend. However, knowing Wonwoo, he likes to keep a low profile at school and Mingyu was sure he’s done nothing extravagant that would make ‘everyone’ talk about him.

 

“It’s the usual good boy gone bad situation. I mean, Jeon Wonwoo and skipping class do not go together in a sentence, like ever,” Seokmin replies. Mingyu rolls his eyes at Seokmin’s statement. “Everyone’s saying that he’d just disappear from class during the 5th period. Some people said that he goes behind school and they would see him talking to this dude in a coat-“

 

“And you say Mingyu’s too obsessed about him. Guess he has a competition now,” Minghao dryly cuts Seokmin off, earning a glare from a red-faced Mingyu. The younger lazily smirks back to him, “what? I’m just saying.”

 

“You’re an asshole.”

 

“Love you too, Gyu.”

 

Seungcheol remained oblivious towards the exchanges between the two second years. “I’m in the same class as Wonwoo and I guess he’s been skipping a lot more often recently…” the elder looked as if he was in deep thought, “I don’t see it as a problem, to be honest.”

 

“It’s because _you_ skip class a lot too,” came Jeonghan’s reply.

 

“No I don’t.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you do. I can vouch for that,” Jeonghan insisted.

 

“No shit, Jeonghan. You were there with me,” Seungcheol grumbles back.

 

Minghao shook his head. “You’re all being dramatic. There’s really nothing weird about Wonwoo skipping classes. I’m pretty sure everyone in this school has done it at least once.” Unfortunately, Minghao was right. It was truly tempting to skip class whenever the teacher would come in late or when they bring out a substitute or a teaching assistant as a replacement if they were absent.

 

“Well speak of the devil,” Seungcheol mutters, eyes following a certain tall, dark haired third year, who was walking towards their table. Mingyu unconsciously threaded his fingers through his hair to make them look neater. Minghao was the only one to notice this and giggles to himself.

 

“Ah, there you guys are,” Wonwoo says, sounding relieved. Wonwoo looked disheveled at the moment, as if he had been running a marathon. “Mr. Kim’s being an ass and he thinks I was the last one to get ahold of the world map but it really wasn’t me I swear to God- but anyway, be a good friend and help me with this.” Mingyu was sure he was referring to Jeonghan and Seungcheol, but he finds Wonwoo’s eyes meeting his own before roaming around the occupants of the table. Wonwoo was flashing them with what could be puppy eyes. And he wasn’t doing a very good job either.

 

“Don’t look at us like that. You look like you’re planning our demise or something,” Jeonghan laughs. Wonwoo looked flustered for a moment before frowning deeper.

 

“And we’re definitely _not_ doing that. Mr. Kim’s a complete pain in the ass when he’s like this. Sorry, dude,” Seungcheol replies apologetically. Minghao’s gaze was casted downwards, while Seokmin looked a bit too casual as if he wasn’t gossiping about Wonwoo the minute before.

 

Then Wonwoo _pouted_. The third year actually fucking _pouted_.

 

“It’s not like you guys have anything better to do…” Wonwoo mumbles to himself.

 

Despite the fact that Mingyu would probably do anything just to please and catch the attention of the elder’s, Mingyu was reluctant to deal with a grumpy Mr. Kim. He smiles apologetically at Wonwoo, while Seokmin shrugs and continues to eat his food.

 

Then Wonwoo’s lips curves into a smile, his nose scrunching a little.

 

“Guess I’m on my own then,” Wonwoo says quietly, sounding as if he was trying to pity himself in an exaggerated way. He fails to notice Minghao’s mouth slightly gaping at that.

 

“I’ll help!” Mingyu suddenly blurted out. It took a few seconds for the tall second year to realize what he had just said. Jeonghan and Seungcheol looked at him with puzzled looks, while Seokmin was smiling suggestively. Surprisingly, Minghao didn’t look at him in a mocking or teasing way, as he would usually do. Instead, the younger looked somewhat annoyed.

 

Wonwoo clasps his hands together, grinning from ear to ear. “Great! We’ll start from the storage room near the auditorium on the third floor.” With that, Wonwoo turns around and started walking away, not before flashing a smile at a flustered Mingyu.

 

“What- what the fuck just happened,” Mingyu sputters out. He was sure that he had refused Wonwoo’s request just now. Why the hell did he suddenly agree to do so?

 

However, everyone else seems unphased by Mingyu’s confused state. “Well, it’s your chance to woo him! Don’t blow it, man!” Seokmin slapped Mingyu’s back a bit too hard. Seungcheol and Jeonghan showed equally supportive smiles.

 

“Don’t do anything stupid!”

 

“Keep it cool and you’ll sweep him off his feet in no time!”

 

Minghao, however, was still quiet. His face didn’t seem all that amused.

 

Mingyu was tempted to ask the younger what was wrong, but Wonwoo had already disappeared from the cafeteria. With that, he gathered his things and excused himself from his friends and made a beeline towards the exit.

 

Wonwoo was slowly walking down the hallway and Mingyu easily caught up to him thanks to his long legs. Wonwoo somehow manged to ignore the quick glances and whispers directed towards him. Mingyu’s pretty sure it was about his class-skipping tendencies. He just doesn’t understand why everyone’s making a big deal out of it. Sure, Wonwoo seemed like your typical goody two shoes, but after that one time Wonwoo downed a whole lemonade on a hot, hot day in front of a sweaty and dehydrated Mingyu, the latter was sure he was the devil’s incarnate. Especially after the smirk he flashed him afterwards.

 

“So…you have Mr. Kim’s class after this?” Mingyu attempted to break the ice.

 

Wonwoo nodded. His cute and sweet smile was long gone, which disappointed Mingyu a little. “Yeah. He pretty much depends on me when it comes to teaching in my class. I think he’s still mad about that one time.”

 

“What one time?”

 

Wonwoo chuckles a little. “That one time Seungcheol and his friends put a bunch of fake insects all over his desk in the teacher’s lounge and his table in our class. You know how much he despises bugs.”

 

Mingyu snickers at that. “Oh shit- yeah. That was funny.”

 

Wonwoo shrugs. “I guess it was…Mr. Kim wasn’t that amused though.”

 

“When is Mr. Kim ever amused?” Mingyu sarcastically retorted, earning a small laughter from Wonwoo, Mingyu smiles to himself and mentally high-fived himself for being able to make the elder laugh.

 

“You have a point there, kid.”

 

“I’m not a kid,” Mingyu pouted, somehow finding the courage to snake an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulder in a joking manner. “I’m literally taller than you!”

 

“Well I’m older than you _and_ a year above you. Take that,” the two laugh at their childish banter and Mingyu reluctantly lets his arm fall from Wonwoo’s shoulder when he felt the other feeling slightly tensed.

 

After that, it was quiet once more and Mingyu didn’t say anything else unless it was necessary too. They ended up finding the world map in the teacher’s lounge and Wonwoo thanked Mingyu for helping him. In return (in Mingyu’s opinion, anyways), Wonwoo flashes him a small smile before waving him goodbye. Mingyu’s heart nearly exploded when he noticed that Wonwoo had hidden his hands inside the sleeves of his hoodie.

 

Fuck, he was so fucking whipped for him.

 

Being the dude Mingyu was, he completely disregarded the strange incident that had happened earlier.

 

* * *

 

After the final bell had rung, Minghao stood quickly from his desk and dashed out of the room, bumping into some of his classmates in the process. He mutters a quick apology to them before rushing out towards the school gates. There, he sees Wonwoo slowly making his way out. The latter was talking to a guy that Minghao did not recognize. But whoever it was, Minghao deemed him unimportant compared to what he had to say to Wonwoo.

 

To Minghao’s surprise, the elder did not slip out of class early this time.

 

He suddenly grabbed an unsuspecting Wonwoo’s wrist and dragged him out of the school gates. The elder had wide eyes and a puzzled look, but it nothing compared to the baffled look the other guy had when Minghao swooped in and dragged Wonwoo away. If anything, it was pretty funny.

 

Minghao continued to drag the elder until they reached a secluded area, which was a pretty shady-looking alley that smelled pretty bad. Wonwoo’s nose scrunches up in disgust when Minghao pulls him behind a gigantic trash bin.

 

“Minghao, what-“

 

“What the hell did you do to Mingyu?” Minghao’s question sounded more like a statement, a threatening one to be exact.

 

Wonwoo blinks at him before casting his gaze downwards, looking ashamed.

 

“Well I-“

 

Minghao clenches his jaw. “We all promised to never use them against innocent people, _especially_ our own friends.” To say that Minghao was pissed was an understatement. “It was stupid- _really_ stupid of you to do that. Never in my wildest imaginations would I expect you to use _that_ for petty reasons. You’re better than that, Wonwoo!”

 

Minghao was younger than Wonwoo, but in situations like this, neither of the two cared about the age hierarchy. Wonwoo completely shrank under Minghao’s burning glare.

 

“I’m…”

 

The two suddenly went quiet. Wonwoo still refused to look up while Minghao had unreadable look on his face as he continues to stare down at the taller teen. After a while, Minghao sighs.

 

“You know this better than anyone, Wonwoo,” Minghao repeated in a softer tone. Wonwoo finally looks up and smiles apologetically at the younger. He ruffles the younger teen’s hair, much to his displeasure, and nods his head.

 

“I know…I fucked up big time there," Wonwo mutters, hand still on Minghao’s head, “It was a dumb thing to do. You can hit me if you want. I’d rather have you do it than Jun or Soonyoung.”

 

Minghao snapped up and shook his head, batting Wonwoo’s hand off his head.

 

“Must I remind you that it'd probably be more painful if I were the one to do it?" 

 

Wonwoo chuckles, his smile slowly drops from his face. “Yeah, of course."

 

Minghao rubs his temples. “You were lucky none of them noticed.”

 

“I doubt they did. One, mind control isn’t something anyone can spot in an instance, two, I don’t think they know about our abilities.” Mind control was one of Wonwoo’s odd abilities. He didn’t remember the first time he was able to do so, but he did notice that some people couldn’t say no to him when he starts pitying himself. He thought that hey, maybe people actually adored him that much, but that was until he met Jisoo. But that’s a story for another time.

 

However, he has yet to discover his other special ability, unlike Minghao and Jisoo. Then again, Wonwoo was a ‘late bloomer’ when it comes to this. It wasn’t like he wasn’t freaked out when he discovered his own abilities, Wonwoo was pretty much in disbelief when Jisoo had told him what he was capable of doing. He also received a pretty long lecture from Jisoo to never abuse his powers and all that.

 

“You have a point there,” Minghao mutters.

 

Wonwoo couldn’t help but snort at that. “Look at you, already looking after your pitiful senior. I’m flattered and offended at the same time, Hao.”

 

Minghao shook his head. “Stop that already. Now come on, Jisoo wanted us to be there as soon as we finished classes.” Minghao readjusted the bag on his shoulder before marching off a different direction. Wonwoo soon trails behind him, hand shoved into the pockets of his sweater.

 

“What does Jisoo want, anyway? It sounds pretty urgent…” Wonwoo wonders aloud.

 

His younger friend shrugs at him. “Beats me. Even Jun and Soonyoung are pretty clueless about it as well.”

 

“Sometimes I really wonder what goes through his head,” Wonwoo mutters.

 

“Don’t we all.”


	2. two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the team faces trouble and mingyu isn't the most street smart person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! so thanks to all who have read this fic, left a comment, and kudos! 
> 
> so tomorrow is ticketing day for ideal cut in where i live and damn im really nervous?? i really hope i get tickets... 
> 
> so enjoy this chapter!

Wonwoo was a good person. He really was.

 

He respected his elders, he returned his books to the library on time; every bare minimum mediocre activities everyone else does you can think of.

 

He couldn’t deny that there were times where he was somewhat tempted to take advantage of a certain situation with his so-called special abilities. He knew where to cross the lines, fortunately. He merely used his powers for pretty much the pettiest reasons.

 

Initially, he thought getting a certain Kim Mingyu to help him and getting his ass whooped along with him by Mr. Kim was hilarious. Which really was. Mr. Kim disliked most students that go to their school for some reason, Mingyu and Wonwoo included.

 

But the second Mr. Kim saw Mingyu’s face; his expression went from looking constipated to downright sour. Wonwoo nearly giggled at how fast the transition was, he saw the corner of Mingyu’s lip twitch upward as well. Mr. Kim immediately jumped to conclusions and thought Mingyu was the one to misplace the world map and that Wonwoo was irresponsible for leaving his duties to Mingyu. He started lecturing them about being responsible, which somehow turned into a whole lecture about the origins of why humans do immoral or bad things.

 

They left after nearly 30 minutes, which caused the two to rush back to their classes. Mingyu smiles at him before walking upstairs to his class. Wonwoo felt himself grinning as well at the sight. Mingyu was precious. Wonwoo finds most of the things he does adorable in a way. Even when the younger was practically staring at him wherever he goes.

 

Obviously, Minghao wasn’t pleased with the whole situation. Wonwoo was gifted with abilities that he could use anytime without being caught by an average person. All he needed to do was to pity himself and boom, he’ll get what he wants. His mind control worked wonders.

 

However, Minghao was a complete hypocrite. Wonwoo was nice enough to not bring it up during their argument in the alley.

 

Minghao had omnilingualism, the ability where he’s able to utilize a language despite having zero knowledge of it. Wonwoo was sure Minghao had used his special ability during English tests. The younger always seemed enthusiastic when he spoke of his English grades.

 

The younger first discovered his ability the moment he stepped into South Korea. It was pretty much the best thing that could happen to you when you enter a foreign country you’re about to live in. However, he still took extra classes on learning Korean since he didn’t want to look suspicious, which was a valid reason.

 

Within Wonwoo’s group, most of his friends had two powers instead of one. Minghao was one of them.

 

Shape shifting is Minghao’s main ability. It was the one thing that made him important in their small group, according to the teen himself.

 

Wonwoo thought Minghao’s shape shifting was pretty cool _sometimes_ , key word being ‘sometimes’. Long story short, Minghao liked to annoy people and being a shape shifter was a huge advantage. That being said, Minghao was a complete hypocrite. Then again, Wonwoo sometimes used his own powers against Minghao as revenge. Jisoo did not find the whole situation amusing.

 

“Minghao, I know it’s you. Change back, please,” Jisoo scolded in a bored tone. Minghao was currently sat on Jisoo’s desk, appearing as one of Jisoo’s ex-girlfriends.

 

Minghao chuckles and shifts back to his original appearance. Jun watches the younger with an amused look.

 

“You’re no fun, Jisoo,” Minghao chuckles, to which Jisoo flips the bird in reply. “I even went as far as using that blue blouse you liked so much whenever she wore it.”

 

“Fuck off.”

 

Jun, who was sat on an office chair with his front leaning against the back support, rolled closer to the other two. “Minghao, I have a question.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“What would happen if you shift and stay in that form for years? Or if you keep shifting into other people; do you think you’ll eventually forget your original form?”

 

Minghao blinks.

 

“Oh shit. I never actually thought of that.”

 

Jisoo rolls his eyes once more. “I’m pretty sure Minghao remembers his own face, Junhui. Now can we please focus on the main problem here?” Jisoo says in an exasperated tone. “Wait, no. Where the hell is Soonyoung?”

 

Wonwoo glances at his phone. “He’s in detention.”

 

Jisoo sighs. “See, this is why we all should be going to the same school. So shit like this doesn’t happen. I bet I could have gotten him out of that predicament.”

 

Jun scoffs at that. “Well, who made _you_ leader?”

 

Jisoo glares at him. “Well I’m the oldest here.”

 

“You’re also the clumsiest and the most awkward,” Minghao retorts.

 

“But Wonwoo’s awkward too.”

 

“Don’t bring me into this. Also I’m pretty sure Soonyoung took the role as our team’s leader,” Wonwoo drones.

 

“Well look where he is now.”

 

“Hey, he tries,” came Wonwoo’s banter. “So why’d you call all of us here?”

 

They were currently gathered in the garage of Jisoo’s old house. It wasn’t the most comfortable nor was it the best, but they made it work. Though Minghao couldn’t hold back his urge to clean the entire garage since it was practically covered in dust and spider webs. However, everyone else agreed that sweeping the floor was enough since they wouldn’t hang around there often. But Minghao had already planned for spring-cleaning.

 

Jisoo bites his lower lip. “Well…we’re sort of in debt.”

 

“With who?” asks Jun.

 

“Soonyoung kind of destroyed the bar in our last mission. But since we’re a team we’re supposed to take care of that together. The guy who owned the club promised not to call the cops on us if we pay back at least half of the debt within a week,” Jisoo carefully explains, earning groans and sighs from the other three.

 

It was supposed to be quick and clean mission to take out some drug dealers who hung around in a shady nightclub. However, there were reports that one of them had approached high school students. The mission was sent in by an anon on their website which was made by Hansol, Jisoo’s underclassman.

 

Basically, the website functions as a mission board, where people could send in a variety of requests, be it to catch an actual criminal, or even to serve justice against people who were able to hide behind the law. Jisoo immediately went to Hansol after playing a few hours of Persona 5, which had inspired Jisoo to make a website for people to submit their requests like in the game. In short, they were more of vigilantes than superheroes, as people would usually dub them as. Not all of the requests they’ve done were completely innocent.

 

It had started smoothly. Jun had jumped an innocent bystander on the streets, knocking him out. Minghao then shifted his form and turned into the aforementioned man, whose name was Jung Jaehyun. Unfortunately, this Jaehyun man didn’t have his ID with him and they had to make do with Wonwoo in order to enter the building. When the bouncer had asked for IDs, Wonwoo worked his magic, which caused the bouncer to walk away and climb a street lamp. They were lucky that no one had stood behind them in the line so nobody caught Wonwoo in the act. Soonyoung then made his way in followed by the disguised Minghao, while Wonwoo went back to the car to accompany Jisoo.

 

Unfortunately, things got messy when the drug dealer appeared to be drunk and tried to attack innocent bystanders. Minghao knew not to cause a scene, however Soonyoung was affected by the heat of the moment and threw a punch at the dealer. But it seemed like Soonyoung had forgotten that he could never just throw a regular punch, and sent the man flying towards the bar, destroying it. The police soon came and they had Jun to help Minghao escape while Soonyoung easily ran out of the mess.

 

“For your information, we could’ve finished it a lot more smoothly if I had just shadow-travelled my way into the building,” Jun grumbles.

 

Jisoo sighs. “You know how insistent Soonyoung was.”

 

Jun’s grip on the chair tightens, eyebrows furrowing. “Well you should’ve spoken up about it since it was obviously a much better solution-“

 

“Well what’s done is done. Let’s not talk about what we should have or could have done since it’s already happened,” interrupted Jisoo. The eldest slowly walks towards Jun, eyes narrowed. The younger glared back up to him defiantly. “If you had shadow-travelled your way in, what could you have done if they guy hurt you, Jun? Your powers attract a lot of attention and I doubt you’re able to fight back quietly, knowing how you are. You were lucky we were in the midst of a riot, otherwise people would’ve noticed you helping Minghao escape by _shadow-travelling_.”

 

Jun glances at Wonwoo. “Well Wonwoo could’ve controlled the guy to drag his ass the police station and confessed.”

 

Wonwoo frowns. “Jun…you know I’m supposed to bring up the subject to him first in order to able to manipulate his decisions. He was in a drunken state and I’d definitely get my ass handed to him that way.”

 

Jisoo nodded at that. “Wonwoo’s right…while our plan wasn’t perfect, it was the safest route to go through. Please understand, Jun.”

 

Jisoo could tell the younger was holding back from taking a jab at Jisoo’s imperfectness; that being his special ability as a genius tactician and planner and for having a special ability called omnicompetence. It was unfortunate that Jisoo wasn’t able to use his powers to its fullest since he was the last one to discover his powers.

 

Jun scoffs, looking away. “Whatever.” The younger stood up from the chair to stand next to Wonwoo, leaning his back against the wall, arms crossed.

 

Wonwoo knew that Jun hated it when Jisoo was right.

 

The tension in the air was thick and Wonwoo was starting to feel uncomfortable. Minghao had been quiet most of the time and was currently looking between his own teammates.

 

Surprisingly, the youngest of them was the one to break the silence and tension.

 

“So…how are we going to pay the debt?” Minghao spoke quietly.

 

Jisoo sighs in an exasperated manner, running his fingers through his hair. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”

 

“Should we wait for Soonyoung then?” Wonwoo enquires.

 

“That’s all we can do for now, I guess,” Jisoo mutters. “Maybe I’ll try contacting Hansol, to see if he has any ideas.”

 

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Minghao suddenly says, “is it really a good idea to entrust your junior with all this information? I mean, he’s a cool guy, but…?”

 

“I trust Hansol,” was all Jisoo said in return.

 

Minghao shrugs, “alright then.” Jisoo then turns around, hands already typing away on his phone. “How much do have to pay back?” Jisoo mutters out the amount, which caused Minghao’s jaw to drop a little, and Jun’s eyes widening. Wonwoo cringes at the mention of the amount.

 

Wonwoo has never really spoken with Hansol much, but he didn’t seem the type who would sell them out. Plus Jisoo was pretty trusting of him and Wonwoo trusted Jisoo’s decisions.

 

“So…should we start looking for part time jobs?” Jun slowly asks.

 

“I don’t think it’ll be that easy. We have school and we only get paid by the end of the week, which might be troubling for us if all five of us combined can’t reach the amount,” Minghao sneers. Jun groans out loud in reply before sinking to the floor, back still against the wall.

 

Wonwoo sighs. “We’ll figure this out somehow.”

 

* * *

 

Mingyu had just walked out of the school gates when he notices a guy in a trench coat, leaning against one of the concrete beams of the gates. Seungcheol and Jeonghan were too busy talking to each other to notice, while Seokmin was on his phone, probably texting a friend.

 

The tallest’s eyes narrow when the man in the trench coat was simply observing whatever was going on inside of the school area. Though his eyes seemed as if he was searching for something, or perhaps, someone.

 

Mingyu caught his gaze and stares back challengingly, knowing that the person was perhaps up to no good. The guy smiles at him in an unsettling manner, then the mysterious man coughs before turning around and starts walking away. He spared one last glance at Mingyu, as if he was coaxing the younger to start following him.

 

Something within Mingyu told him that he should follow after the man, despite knowing that it’s probably a terrible idea.

 

Whatever.

 

Mingyu excused himself from his friends, who didn’t seem to care much that the second year had taken off all of the sudden. Seokmin did glance upwards off his phone before looking back at the screen.

 

Mingyu runs past the metal gates before slowly following the man in the trench coat. He wasn’t too far away from Mingyu, but he was sure that the man knew that Mingyu was following him, judging from his slowed down pace.

 

The second-year student curses when the man made a turn towards the shadier parts of the town. Mingyu wonders why the school was built in such a secluded area near what could be the worst and most unsafe part of town.

 

When the man in the trench coat entered an abandoned building, Mingyu stopped himself from following him when he reaches the creaky-looking door, suddenly stuck in a dilemma.

 

If anything were to happen, Mingyu was prepared. He’s fought a lot in middle school and he and Minghao would sometimes spar with each other as well. He should be fine.

 

But if Mingyu gets himself killed, he was sure that someone would soon find him and arrest the man, as nasty as the idea sounded. Mingyu shook his head, laughing to himself. There was no way he was dying this way.

 

While heights and amusement park rides did scare the living shit out of him, he doubted a shady looking man in a trench coat would do any damage to him.

 

Taking a deep breath, he steps inside the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here's a bit of info on their powers:
> 
> wonu: mind control (he needs to bring up the subject and 'pity' himself over something in order to manipulate his target, his powers are still imperfect and will soon develop as the story progresses) 
> 
> hao: shape shifting, omnilingualism (basically can shape shift into any person he's seen before and can utilize any language despite never hearing about it- his powers are already 'perfect') 
> 
> jun: shadow manipulation (can physically turn into a shadow and move around in that form, can also turn his target into one as well as long as they're having physical contact) 
> 
> jisoo: analytical expert, omnicompetence (is able to analyze his targets, handle any situation; basically the brains of the group, but he's still pretty new to all this and none of his powers are 'perfect' and still needs a hell lot of improvement) 
> 
> soonyoung: ??? (will be revealed later, but i already dropped a hint abt his powers in this chapter haha)
> 
> and just so it isn't confusing, here's a tiny info abt their schools: 
> 
> a: wonwoo, mingyu, minghao, seungcheol, jeonghan, seokmin  
> b: jisoo, hansol, seungkwan  
> c: jun, chan  
> d: soonyoung, jihoon 
> 
> anywho, thanks for reading and do leave a comment if you'd like!


	3. three.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i got svt tickets surprisingly? idk where i'll be sitting exactly but i dont think its anywhere in the front haha :( oh well, at least i got tickets!

“Hello?”

 

Mingyu hated how his voice sounded hesitant. Swallowing, he looks around the room before stepping further inside. He runs his fingers through his hair before stuffing his hands down his uniform blazer.

 

After walking around the floor for a moment, he was then struck with realization.

 

What the hell was he doing here?

 

Situations like these never end well in movies, why would it end well now?

 

Hissing, Mingyu turns around and started walking towards the door, only to find the door…not there.

 

“Wait, what the fuck?” Mingyu frantically looks around, suddenly very aware of his surroundings. He failed to notice that the entire room was no longer in its original state. Mingyu felt his jaw drop once he realizes that something wasn’t right. He slams his palm against the wall, as if checking if the door actually disappeared or not.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Mingyu curses helplessly as he looks around the room only to find no exit. All the windows and doors had suddenly disappeared from the wall. Only the stairs that led up gave Mingyu hope to find an exit. He bolted for the stairs in panic, unable to think straight anymore. Mingyu tries to remember if he had taken anything weird at school before going into the building.

 

Upstairs, he was greeted by another room without windows or anywhere he could use to leave the building. Even the emergency exit had disappeared from where it should be.

 

“What the fuck am I on…” Mingyu mutters to himself, trying to calm down and assess the situation. He went to grab his phone from his pocket. His eyes went wide when his phone suddenly disappeared into thin air.

 

Now was the time to panic.

 

Mingyu continuously spat out a series of curses as he ascended through the stairs, glancing at every floor once in a while to find every single one of them in the same state.

 

He finally reaches the top floor after a good few minutes of running upstairs. He stopped once he reaches the final flight of stairs to catch his breath whilst leaning forward, placing both arms on both of his knees.

 

“I really need to start working out again…” Mingyu mutters to himself. He exhales once more before slowly walking up the last few steps of the stairs. Walking into the room, he wasn’t surprised to see all the windows gone.

 

Mingyu finds himself staring at the mysterious man in the trench coat from earlier, who stood in the center of the room. Mingyu narrows his eyes and took a few steps forward.

 

“Who the hell are you…” Mingyu mutters lowly, staring at the person before him, but unable to meet his gaze.

 

There were several possibilities running through Mingyu’s head. One, he was high as shit. Two, he was fucking high. Three, someone slipped something into his drink earlier, thus making him fucking high. Four, he died and he’s in wherever people go to after death. Five, its all a dream.

 

Mingyu pinches his arm.

 

Definitely not a dream.

 

So it’s either he’s high as fuck or dead.

 

“Am I dead?”

 

The man chuckles.

 

“That’s impossible. You wouldn’t be talking to me if you’re dead because I’m pretty sure I’m alive and kicking right now,” he replies. The man turns around to face him, a sinister smile on his face. His eyes were flickering from color to color. “I’ve been expecting you.”

 

Mingyu’s eyes narrow.

 

“What…what are you?”

 

The man tilts his head to the side.

 

“Don’t pretend you don’t know who I am,” he replies in a bored tone, “or what I am, as you would phrase it.”

 

Mingyu swallows, clenching his fists. He thought about running away, but remembering that the whole building was basically in a lockdown, there was nothing he could do. He could try and knock the lights out of the man, but he somehow knew that it wasn’t a good idea.

 

“Look,” his voice came out shaky, but he manages to find composure, “I don’t care who or what you are-“

 

“You were the one to ask-“

 

“But!” Mingyu cuts him off, “get me out of here. I’m not playing your games. I don’t know who you are and I sure as hell never met anyone like you.”

 

The man smirks. “Oh you’ll never meet anyone like me.” Something in his eyes gleamed. Mingyu figures it was due to the color of his eyes that kept on changing.

 

Mingyu glares at him, while he was still unable to comprehend the situation, he tried not to let his composure falter.

 

“Get me out of here,” Mingyu sneers. “Or else I’ll…yell…or call for the cops.

 

“Now why would you think that would work on me, Jeon Wonwoo?”

 

Mingyu’s eyes widen.

 

Wait.

 

What?

 

_“So he thinks I’m Wonwoo…”_

 

~•~

 

Jisoo slams his hands against his desk.

 

“This meeting is officially on hold. I can’t stress how much I need Soonyoung to be here in order for it to start,” he mutters exasperatedly, eyes tired. The other three in the room kept looking at one another until Wonwoo pipes up.

 

“I need to get back. I have tons of homework waiting to be done,” he says while getting up. Minghao watches him with an amused look.

 

“Alright, you nerd,” Minghao chuckles.

 

“Hey, you wouldn’t be saying that once you’re in your final year, brat,” Wonwoo snaps back, he eyes Jun and Jisoo. “Shouldn’t you guys be focusing on picking up your grades?”

 

Jisoo scoffs. “My grades don’t need a ‘picking up’, for your information.”

 

Jun shrugs. “I’m good.” Minghao rolls his eyes and hits the back of Jun’s head lightly. The elder pouts, though Minghao was smirking back to him.

 

Minghao then shrugs and looks at Wonwoo. “You heard them. Now get out, Wonwoo. No one wants you here.”

 

The elder rolls his eyes and waves them off. “Alright. Tell me if you guys figure anything out on we’re going to repay the club owner.”

 

Jisoo smiles. “Don’t worry about it, you’ve worked pretty hard the past year. Take care. Hopefully Soonyoung stays out of trouble tomorrow so we can get this over with fast.”

 

“Well, you too, Jisoo. Hope things go well for you too.” Wonwoo felt bad for Jisoo. He may be one of their little group’s founders, but his abilities were far from perfect since he was a ‘late bloomer’. “Well, see you guys tomorrow.”

 

Once Wonwoo was outside, he reaches for his wallet, cursing when he realizes that he had left it at home. He contemplates whether he should go back and ask his friends for money, but he decided against it.

 

“Guess I’m walking then,” he sighs.

 

Wonwoo didn’t know how long he’s been walking but all he knew that he was still far from home. The sun was setting and the streets were getting quieter and emptier. It wasn’t very cold out but Wonwoo still finds himself shivering.

 

After a while, Wonwoo started to grow wary and aware of his surroundings. He started picking up his pace and kept his eyes on the road. He passes by some of his classmates who had just left school, indicating that was now nearer to the school area, prompting him to sigh in relief.

 

Near the school area was a rather quiet and empty neighborhood. There were several abandoned buildings with a large ‘on sale’ signs and contact numbers, though it’s been years, no one had bothered occupying them. Wonwoo thought it would make a nice place to open a store.

 

There was a particular building that caught Wonwoo’s attention.

 

He was no psychic, but he knew when something was off or something abnormal was going on. Abnormal being things related to his and friends’ abilities.

 

As far as Wonwoo knew, there was no one else in town that had abilities like them, or at least no one he’s met.

 

However, there was something about the building that was alluring, though Wonwoo wasn’t sure how to explain it. Before he knew it, he was walking towards the old and abandoned building.

 

The door was already wide open, which surprised Wonwoo. He lets his hand slide from the handle as he peers inside the building curiously. Wonwoo clutches his backpack tighter to himself before letting himself in. The door to the stairs was opened wide, the handle somewhat loose from the surface.

 

“Huh,” Wonwoo mutters to himself.

 

Wonwoo proceeded to climb his way up the stairs. He was panting by the 4th floor, but he was sure he wasn’t hallucinating when he heard voices from the top floor. Wonwoo licks his lower lips before continuing his way up.

 

_“…Jeon Wonwoo?”_

Wonwoo freezes upon the mention of his name. He didn’t recognize whoever said it, but that was what made it even worse.

 

_“Wonwoo? You know Wonwoo?”_

The second voice, however, made Wonwoo freeze his tracks. It sounded weak, unlike the first voice, as if he was in pain.

 

The voice was no other than Kim Mingyu, an underclassman from his school. The same Kim Mingyu who had helped him look for the world map so he wouldn’t be the only one getting into trouble with Mr. Kim.

 

What the hell was a kid like him doing in a place like this?

 

Something inside Wonwoo told him that Mingyu was in danger, that the younger teen wasn’t supposed to be here at all. Wonwoo wasn’t a good fighter like Minghao, Jun, or Soonyoung, but he could probably hold off whoever had Mingyu in captive and give him enough time to escape. But if things go south, he had to depend on his powers.

 

Wonwoo clenches his fist and with all his might, he charges through the door, busting into the room with a grand entrance, as Soonyoung would usually say.

 

Both figures in the room snapped their head backwards to look at the latest newcomer.

 

Wonwoo was shocked that it was indeed Mingyu who was there, though his eyes narrow at the sight of an unfamiliar figure within the room.

 

“Mingyu!” Wonwoo’s attention snapped back towards the younger, who seemed to be in pain. Wonwoo notices that his eyes appeared blank. He grits his teeth and glares at the man in the room, assuming that he was behind whatever his hurting Mingyu.

 

“W-Wonwoo…how’d you get in…?” Mingyu’s voice sounded weaker and weaker within every second. The shorter teen ran over towards Mingyu, in time to catch the younger from falling over.

 

Wonwoo looks at him worriedly before looking up to the man, eyebrows furrowing.

 

“Who the hell are you and what did you do to him?”

 

The man looks taken aback for a minute, but narrows his eyes at Wonwoo nevertheless. “So you’re Jeon Wonwoo?”

 

Wonwoo gapes. “What…”

 

The man glances between Wonwoo and Mingyu, a genuinely confused look perched on his face. He shook his head. “I was mistaken then.”

 

Wonwoo swallows, his eyes travelled towards the door that leads to the stairs before glancing back at the man. “Now if you don’t mind us…we’ll be on our way.” Mingyu’s arm was slung over his shoulder, eyes still looking blank. He was taller than Wonwoo but the shorter still managed to support his weight.

 

The man took a step forward. “Not so fast. I’ve been looking for you, Jeon Wonwoo.”

 

“Well maybe next time. I don’t know who you are, I’ve never met you, maybe you have the wrong Jeon Wonwoo.” Maybe he could somehow manipulate the man that he was looking for the wrong person. “I’ve done nothing for you to look for me, have I?”

 

The man looked like he believed Wonwoo’s words for a moment, but he shook his head, mouth curving into a smile.

 

“Seems like I have the right person. I know what you just attempted to do, Jeon, you can’t fool me,” he says, amusement decorating his voice, “mind control has no effect on me.”

 

Wonwoo felt Mingyu flinch in his hold. The younger turned to face his senior, confusion clear in his face.

 

“Wonwoo, what is he talking about?”

 

Wonwoo turns to face Mingyu, mouth gaping open, before looking back at the man.

 

“Don’t listen to him Mingyu. I didn’t do anything.”

 

Mingyu immediately dropped the subject afterwards. Wonwoo felt guilty for using his powers on him again but it had to be done.

 

“Look at you, manipulating innocent people. Your records seem to say otherwise, but I guess your morals are on the grey area,” he mutters lowly in an accusing tone. It somehow dropped Mingyu out of Wonwoo’s mind control and the younger was questioning Wonwoo once more. Wonwoo almost didn’t catch the man reaching for something down his trench coat pocket. “What a waste of having such abilities.”

 

“Wonwoo, what…what did he mean by that?” he weakly sputters. Before the man could answer for him, Wonwoo places Mingyu on the floor before charging forward, decking the man across his face, causing him to stumble backwards. Even Wonwoo wasn’t aware he had such power. A strange device similar to a phone fell from his pocket and Wonwoo went to grab it. Mingyu’s eyes suddenly went back to normal and the man’s eyes stopped flickering between colors.

 

Mingyu frantically looks around and stands up.

 

“The windows are back!” he exclaims. He looks at the door leading to the stairs, “that means the door…” he glances back up front to see the man in the trench coat holding Wonwoo by the throat, the latter’s hands gripping hard on the man’s arm. Mingyu’s eyes widen, suddenly finding himself in a panicked state. “Wonwoo!”

 

Wonwoo glances back at him, his face contorting in pain. “M-Mingyu…”

 

Wonwoo couldn’t sputter out another word as the man’s grip on his throat was pretty tight. He was also unable to try and manipulate the man’s mind, it was as if something was blocking him from doing so. His only choice left Mingyu, but unfortunately, he still couldn’t utter another word.

 

Mingyu seemed to be in panic, which would be totally normal for him to react that way. By now, the younger should now that the man wasn’t just a man, that Wonwoo wasn’t just some teen, and that the situation was anything but normal.

 

Mingyu was in a dilemma whether helping Wonwoo would turn the situation for the worse or better. He was sure that he never prepared himself for situations like these, where anything remotely supernatural was involved.

 

Wonwoo shuts his eyes close before opening them again. His eyes were now on Mingyu’s. Something in Wonwoo’s gaze captivated Mingyu and it wasn’t in a romantic way. Before realizing what he was doing, Mingyu finds himself running towards the two and delivering a rather hard punch on the same spot Wonwoo had punched the man. The man stumbled once more, but let go of Wonwoo. Mingyu was quick to support Wonwoo’s weight before the elder fell over. Wonwoo was able to stand on his own two feet then and Mingyu went to grab for the device on the floor before swooping in to carry Wonwoo, who was unable to walk properly, bridal style before rushing down the stairs.

 

When they reached the bottom of the building, Wonwoo lets himself off Mingyu and ran for the door with Mingyu following behind him. The man hadn’t caught up to them but Wonwoo knew better to not stop running.

 

“Mingyu, just run and don’t fucking stop until I say so,” Wonwoo barks out at the younger, earning a shocked look from the latter, but he nodded anyway.

 

The two stopped running when they reached the school grounds. Mingyu leaned against the brick wall, face red and clothes drenched in sweat. Wonwoo was in no better shape, the bruises on his neck looked pretty nasty, causing Mingyu to cringe at the sight.

 

The elder was sat on the floor, hand wiping the sweat off his forehead. Mingyu watches him from above, unbuttoning his uniform, leaving him in a plain black t-shirt. He went to reach his bag, only to realize that he had left it in the building. He curses before slinging his uniform on his shoulder.

 

After a few minutes, Wonwoo finally broke the ice.

 

“Mingyu…” he breathes out, “you’ll give me a chance to explain, won’t you?”

 

Mingyu bites his lower lip.

 

Even he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im starting to cringe at this fic bc i feel like im overdoing things haha 
> 
> n e ways comments are appreciated! thanks for reading uwu


	4. four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao is most definitely going to murder Wonwoo someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually havent had much fun in writing stories until i started this one. I've always wanted to do superhero aus but i couldnt really find a good plot haha
> 
> anyways! than you all who commented, left a kudo, and read the fic!
> 
> comments are always appreciated and they keep me going uwu

Mingyu’s mouth gapes open, as if he was about to say something, unfortunately he was unable to form any sentence at the moment.

 

“I…” Mingyu starts. He had a _lot_ to say. “I honestly don’t know what to say right now. Guess I have no choice but to listen to you now.”

 

Wonwoo looked relieved. Mingyu sank on the floor next to the elder. “Alright. Start talking.” Mingyu knew he sounded disrespectful at the moment, but he deserved explanation after everything that had just happened to him.

 

“Well…” Suddenly, a thought came to Mingyu’s mind.

 

“Before that,” Mingyu interrupted, “I want to ask you something.”

 

“Uh…go ahead.”

 

“This might sound weird but,” Mingyu’s gaze met Wonwoo’s wavering one, “did you by any chance…go into my head?”

 

Wonwoo froze. “What do you mean by that?” he asks a bit too fast.

 

Mingyu chews on his lower lip. “Well…when that guy was strangling you…you looked at me and suddenly you were just, in my head. I’m not sure how to explain it but your voice was taking over my mind. You…you get what I mean, do you? I wasn’t imagining things right? Cause I was sure I’d never do anything like that. I wouldn’t have the balls to deck the guy in the face or grab…this,” Mingyu says, gesturing the strange device in his pocket.

 

Wonwoo was silent after Mingyu’s question. The elder looked uncomfortable for a moment before exhaling loudly.

 

“I-“ Wonwoo wasn’t sure if he could trust Mingyu with his secret, that could probably put Jisoo, Soonyoung, Jun, and Minghao in jeopardy. Wonwoo swallows, averting his gaze from Mingyu. “You’re just imagining things.”

 

However, Mingyu was persistent. “Bullshit. I know what I felt that moment and no, I never thought about decking him in the face. Neither did I know I had the power to carry you whilst running down the stairs. My mind was there, but I had no control over my body…and didn’t the guy mention something about you having powers?”

 

Wonwoo stomach drops. “I…”

 

Mingyu scoffs. “Thought so…”

 

Wonwoo shook his head. “It’s not like I don’t want to tell you- I mean, I’d never tell you if he hadn’t spilled the beans. It’s just the matter of my safety…and my friends’ as well. I can’t trust anyone with this.” Wonwoo ends his sentence by gesturing himself.

 

Mingyu sighs, eyes closing. “I don’t know if I can take this information right now…” he mutters, his eyes open again and glances at Wonwoo, “so you’re saying that you have something like superpowers…and that you aren’t the only one with powers?”

 

Wonwoo hesitantly nods. “Well yes, yeah. The guy from earlier was like me as well. You mentioned something about not being able to see the doors and windows? And judging by the blank eyes you had, I’m pretty sure he had you trapped in an illusion. Earlier, I was lured into the building, and I’m sure it was part of his ability as well…though I’m not sure what it was.”

 

He received a blank stare from Mingyu, who seemed confused but accepted his explanation anyway. Mingyu’s lips press into a thin line. “So…why was he after you?”

 

Wonwoo helplessly shrugs. “Honestly? I have no idea. I didn’t know who he was either.”

 

The younger frowns, suddenly feeling uneasy. “He knows your name…and he saw our uniforms…do you think you’ll be okay after this?” Mingyu was sure the man wouldn’t let Wonwoo go just like that.

 

Wonwoo offers him a weak smile. “You don’t need to worry about me, I can take care of myself.”

 

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure you can.”

 

The elder lightly hits the taller teen’s upper arm. “Shut up, I was caught off guard earlier. I was scared that you’d find out about my powers.”

 

Mingyu laughs a little, which causes Wonwoo to break into a wide grin.

 

“Now that I know about your…condition…what powers do you exactly have?” Mingyu questions.

 

“Well, I’m able to manipulate people’s actions through mind control. Though my ability is ‘imperfect’ and I was only able to manipulate people’s actions or decisions after I pity myself or sort, well, until just then. I was able to take over your mind for a short time without saying anything,” replies Wonwoo. “And uh, don’t hate me but when I asked you to accompany to find the world map…”

 

Mingyu’s smile fell from his face. “Let me guess. You used your powers on me,” he deadpans, earning a sheepish smile from the elder.

 

“Well you don’t have to worry about me doing that to you without your consent ever again, my friend gave me an earful after that,” Wonwoo reassured. “But yeah, I’m sorry for that.”

 

The sun was slowly disappearing in the horizon, indicating that it wasn’t far from nighttime. Wonwoo was sure his parents must be wondering where he was now since he told them he would be at Jisoo’s for only an hour and that he would return quickly to do his homework.

 

Wonwoo sees Mingyu’s distressed look.

 

“You left your bag, did you?”

 

Mingyu sighs.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Wonwoo chuckles at that, until he realizes that he also left his bag there. The two were left to wallow in pity.

 

~•~

 

**justice league knockoffs (5)**

 

 **wonu:** guys

 **wonu:** code red

 

 **hao:** jesus wonwoo, what the hell did you do!?

 

 **shua:** oh fuck

**june:** it was bound to happen tbh

 

 **hoshi:** and here i thought i was the one to have fucked up big time

 

 **shua:** you’re still not off the hook, soonyoung

 **shua:** what happened Wonwoo?

 

 **wonu:** it was wild honestly. it’ll be easier to tell you face to face

 **wonu:** long story short an underclassman caught me in action

 **wonu:** well that’s not how it exactly happened but in short, he knows

 

 **hao:** fuck shit

 **hao:** which underclassman

 

 **wonu:** kim mingyu

 

 **hao:** LMAOOOO

 

 **june:**???

 **june:** dude someone knows about wonwoo and ur laughing abt it???

 

 **hao:** no its not that

 **hao:** its just that mingyu has the biggest crush on Wonwoo

 **hao:** congrats Wonwoo, ur the main protagonist

 

 **wonu:** he has a what on me?

 

 **hoshi:** shit hao’s right

 **hoshi:** but anyways

 **hoshi:** you’ll be explaining everything to us tomorrow okay?

 

 **june:** stupid wonu.

 **june:** now i’m gonna have to hit ur head >:(

 

 **hao:** oh same

 **hao:** ur dead meat

 

 **wonu:** :/

 

~•~

 

Wonwoo arrived at school exactly one minute before the bell rang, just so he wouldn’t have to run into Minghao before classes start. He was grateful that Jun didn’t go to the same school as they did. Soonyoung and Jisoo didn’t seem to mad about it so Wonwoo wouldn’t have problems running into them if he went to the same school with the two.

 

Avoiding Minghao wasn’t the only reason why Wonwoo was late as well. After yesterday’s incident, he immediately went home to wash up before knocking into Soonyoung’s house, asking the latter to accompany him to the abandoned building to grab his and Mingyu’s things. Soonyoung had lived next to Wonwoo’s house as far as the latter could remember. They went to the same elementary school and the same junior high school, it was a wonder why Soonyoung decided to go to the high school 30 minutes away from home instead of the one Wonwoo is attending.

 

The two had ventured into the old building after Soonyoung made sure the place was empty. The elder had super speed as his ability, which didn’t really need much developing ever since his powers first ‘bloomed’.

 

So Wonwoo showed up late to school after arriving home late at night, which earned him an earful from both parents. He couldn’t sleep until the clock hit midnight and he ended up waking up late as well. It was truly a bad day for Jeon Wonwoo.

 

As of now, Wonwoo was clad in a rather large grey hoodie in order to cover up the bruises around his neck since the hoodie’s zipper reached up to his neck. He didn’t have the time to conceal them this morning, but thanks to Jisoo’s quick thinking, he managed to use an alternative.

 

Unfortunately for Wonwoo, Minghao had showed up late as well and the two nearly collided by the school gate. Wonwoo nearly dropped Mingyu’s bag from his arms but manages to stabilize himself before he widens his eyes at the sight of Xu Minghao.

 

“M-Minghao?”

 

Minghao had a surprised look on his face as well, before shifting to a rather annoyed one. The younger’s eyes narrow at the sight of the elder.

 

“Well look who decided to show up,” Minghao jeers, “you’re not off the hook after the stunt you pulled yesterday.” The two were running towards the building but they somehow managed to hold a conversation without sounding out of breath.

 

“At least give me a chance to explain, Hao.”

 

Minghao rolls his eyes. “I’m sure you didn’t just want to take advantage of the poor innocent soul like you always do.”

 

“Low blow, kid. It was one time and I didn’t know about my powers the previous times,” Wonwoo retorted. They reached the building in time and Wonwoo made a quick dash towards his class while Minghao made a turn towards the stairs, his gaze boring holes to the back of Wonwoo’s head.

 

Wonwoo slams the door open without realizing until he had the whole class’ eyes on him. The teacher raises a brow at him before gesturing him to come in and sit down. Wonwoo’s cheeks flush red when he notices some of his classmates snickering at him, even Jeonghan, who was usually the nice and supportive friend, was laughing at him. He bows to the teacher in apology before rushing to his seat. Seungcheol watches Wonwoo with an amused look on his face.

 

“I can’t believe you’re actually late, Jeon Wonwoo,” Jeonghan teases. Wonwoo sat on the seat right in front Jeonghan’s and next to Seungcheol’s.

 

Wonwoo raises a palm. “One, I’m not late, I got here a minute before the bell rang. Two, wipe that smirk off your face, Yoon.”

 

Jeonghan eyes the bag in his arms.

 

“Whose is that?”

 

Wonwoo hugs it tighter to him. “None of your business.”

 

Seungcheol scooted closer to the two.

 

“Is it your boyfriend’s?”

 

Wonwoo snaps his head towards Seungcheol. “I don’t even have a boyfriend right now. What are you even on?” His two elder friends didn’t say anything in return but laughs instead, confusing the youngest even more. The teacher tapped his marker on the board a few times and the three quieted down immediately.

 

When break time finally came, Wonwoo clutches the bag close to his chest before bolting out of the room. With the remaining dignity he had in tact, he made his way upstairs, towards the second year students’ floor. He looks around carefully just in case Minghao was around before stepping into the floor.

 

Several underclassmen watched Wonwoo with curious looks, some even whispering and pointing at him. However, Wonwoo was too focused on hiding from Minghao to pay any mind to them. The weight on his shoulders felt like they were lifted once he spotted Mingyu talking to a group of people in front of his class. He jogs over to them, halting when a familiar loud voice boomed across the hallway.

 

“JEON WONWOO!”

 

Wonwoo felt his entire body freezing. Everyone around him had stopped doing whatever they were doing, even Mingyu had looked up from his group of friends and his gaze was met by Wonwoo’s shocked expression.

 

Wonwoo snaps his head to look backwards and was greeted by the sight of a seething Minghao, uniform sleeves rolled up as if he was ready to fight someone. Wonwoo nearly drops the bag but manages to gain composure.

 

“Don’t you think our conversation earlier is over, Jeon!” Some underclassmen gasped at Minghao’s disrespectful tone towards a senior. Though Wonwoo couldn’t care less about it.

 

Minghao was advancing towards him in an alarming speed and a thought suddenly came to Wonwoo’s head. It wasn’t exactly a nice thought but it was the only thing he could do to save his remaining dignity.

 

Wonwoo smiles to himself as he manages to focus his mind on Minghao, he closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again. The younger suddenly stops walking and turns to his right, where Seokmin happened to be standing by, and suddenly buries his face into the latter’s chest, arms wrapping around Seokmin’s body. Wonwoo grins at the flabbergasted look Seokmin adorned when Minghao started purring like a cat into his chest. By now, everyone had their phones out, recording the entire scene.

 

Smiling victoriously, Wonwoo turns to look at Mingyu, who was busy trying to suppress his laughter. While everyone’s distracted Wonwoo went to Mingyu and grabs the younger’s wrist before dragging him away into a more secluded area.

 

Mingyu mindlessly lets himself be dragged by the elder, his mind still replaying the scene had seen earlier.

 

“Holy shit, Wonwoo- that was so fucking hilarious!” Mingyu finds himself saying, Wonwoo chuckles in reply while lightly slapping Mingyu’s arm.

 

“Hey! That’s your friend there! Have some pity,” the elder jokingly scolds.

 

“Who cares? This is definitely going into the yearbook!” Mingyu laughs, “I can’t believe you did that,” the younger adds quietly. “I guess Minghao was being really disrespectful towards you…so it was totally called for.”

 

The elder shrugs. “I still think it was wrong for me to use it against innocent people. And well, Minghao and I are pretty close, but I guess he shouldn’t be that rude with me at school.”

“So what’s that in your arms?” Mingyu points towards the object in Wonwoo’s possession.

 

“Oh this?” Wonwoo lifts the object higher for Mingyu to see, “does it look familiar to you?”

 

Mingyu’s eyes widen. “Holy shit, you went back there to get our things?” He went to grab his bag from Wonwoo’s hands. “Damn, and I had to go to school with my gym bag this morning.”

 

Wonwoo grins shyly. “Well, I had a friend to accompany me since I was afraid the guy from yesterday might return…” Wonwoo trails off, distracted by the blinding smile Mingyu had.

 

Mingyu then shakes his head. “I still need some getting used to with your whole…power thing. I’m still freaked out about yesterday since we never really knew who the guy was…” Mingyu suddenly reached for his pocket, “I think you should be holding onto this, by the way.” Mingyu handed the elder teen the device they nabbed from the guy yesterday.

 

“Thanks, man,” Wonwoo mutters, carefully scanning the device. “I guess I’ll see you around then,” Wonwoo smiles once more, raising his palm.

 

Mingyu chuckles awkwardly. “Y-yeah, sure.” Mingyu notices that the sleeves of Wonwoo’s hoodie covered most of his palms. Cute. Mingyu didn’t realize he was staring at the elder’s hands until Wonwoo chuckles.

 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Wonwoo ended his sentence with a wink. Mingyu’s face flushes red at that.

 

“Very funny,” he grumbles out. They finally bid their farewells and Mingyu watches Wonwoo pass the hallway filled with second years gawking and laughing at Minghao nuzzling Seokmin’s chest like a cat. As Wonwoo reached the stairs, Minghao suddenly let go of Seokmin, eyes wide and jaw on the floor.

 

“JEON WONWOO!”


	5. five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im surprised people are actually reading this? but for real, thank u all uwu 
> 
> i feel like i'm still lacking at characterization...i havent written a fic like this in a long time 
> 
> anyways, enjoy!

Wonwoo was the last to arrive at Jisoo’s garage. What he didn’t expect was to be tackled down by both Jun and Minghao as soon as he entered the building.

 

Jisoo smiles sheepishly at the three teens on the floor. “Sorry, Jeon. I tried stopping them but they weren’t having it.”

 

Wonwoo shrunk under the glares of the two Chinese teens on top of him. “It’s…it’s alright, Jisoo. I deserve it.”

 

Soonyoung chuckles at the sight. “Alright, alright, enough guys. Let him talk.” Soonyoung pulls the reluctant Jun and Minghao up with the help of Jisoo. The two finally surrendered and went to sit on one of the office chairs in the room. Minghao was still glaring at Wonwoo, however.

 

“I’m not forgiving him,” Minghao growls childishly, earning an eye roll from Wonwoo.

 

“You can get back at me any time, Hao. But you totally deserved that earlier,” the elder retorts. Jun glances between the two, confused.

 

“What did Wonwoo do?”

Soonyoung taps his hand repeatedly on the table. “Alright may I have your attention please? We’re about to start today’s meeting and I don’t want any of you causing a ruckus.”

 

“Like you did in the club?” sneered Jun.

 

Soonyoung gestures him to be quiet. “Alright before we start throwing fingers at each other, or hands even, let’s list down all the issues that must be discussed today, but first, I need everyone to shut up,” Soonyoung eyes every single person in the room before smiling, “great, now I’ll write down all the issues we’re dealing with.”

 

Jisoo raises his hand. “Our debt with the nightclub owner.” Soonyoung nods and writes it down.

 

Minghao raises his hand, an innocent smile adorning his face. “Your destructive tendencies.” Soonyoung glares at him.

 

“You know, I liked you better when you were the cute little freshman,” Soonyoung grumbles out, but writing it down nevertheless. He sees Minghao and Jun high fiving each other in the corner of his eye. “Anything else?”

 

“Jeon Wonwoo exposing himself,” Jun pipes in. Wonwoo bites his lower lip in guilt at that.

 

“Jeon Wonwoo’s developed mind control that he never told us,” Minghao added, not forgetting to glare at the elder. “Also his tendencies to use his powers against innocent people,” he sneers out, earning a gasp from Jisoo.

 

Wonwoo frowns. “Hey I apologized to him already.”

 

“You used it on me!”

 

“You weren’t exactly innocent!”

 

“Both of you shut up,” snaps Soonyoung. He smiles in satisfaction when the two immediately went quiet before writing three new sentences on the board. He dusts his hand before looking back at the other four teens in the room. “Alright, which one shall we discuss first?”

 

“Obviously everything that has Jeon Wonwoo written in it,” Minghao replies.

 

Wonwoo’s phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. While Soonyoung and Minghao were busy bantering, Wonwoo pulls his phone out to read the message.

 

**unknown number: hey this is mingyu**

**unknown number: can i uh**

**unknown number: ask about some things?**

**unknown number: regarding ‘that’?**

Wonwoo was tempted to answer right then and now, but Jun suddenly hit the back of his head. He was smiling but his eyes showed an unfamiliar emotion that Wonwoo couldn’t recognize.

 

“Hey, no texting during meetings,” he whispers.

 

Wonwoo smiles at him sheepishly before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. “Sorry.”

 

“Who was it anyway?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” Wonwoo teases.

 

Jun smiles at him again and lightly punches the younger’s shoulder. “Oh come on, I’m your friend.”

 

“You sure do have a knack of hitting people,” deadpans Wonwoo, “it was Mingyu, my underclassman.”

 

Jun’s expression was unreadable. “Kim Mingyu huh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So you two are close?” questions Jun, averting his gaze.

 

Wonwoo frowns instead. “I…not really.”

 

“Hey you two!” Soonyoung suddenly interrupts, “pay attention! Especially you, Jeon! Since this is about you after all.”

 

Wonwoo slumps his shoulders, raising his hands in surrender. “Yeah, yeah. I’m guilty.”

 

Jisoo chuckles. “It won’t be that simple, Wonwoo. We’re giving you a chance to explain.”

 

“You’re not mad?”

 

Jisoo shrugs. “I doubt Mingyu will tell on you after you saved his life. Besides, I heard you even went as far as returning into the building to retrieve his things. He must be special to you.” Wonwoo tends to forget that Jisoo was good at thinking things through and figuring out the outcome. Wonwoo started to suspect that Jisoo was also a clairvoyant in a way.

 

Wonwoo was speechless. “I…I just had to do what was right. He’s…he’s just a friend. An underclassman from school, nothing more, nothing less.”

 

“Sure he is,” Minghao drones.

 

Soonyoung laughs, though Jun remained quiet.

 

“And what about you, Soonyoung? You’re not mad?” Wonwoo enquires. The elder shook his head.

  
“I trust you and Jisoo. And perhaps that Mingyu kid as well,” Soonyoung ended his sentence with a wink. Wonwoo looks scandalized.

 

“Why does everyone assume I have something going on with him? You’re all weird,” Wonwoo protests. “Can we get back to the main topic? The part where I explain myself?”

 

Minghao crosses his arms. “Fine. Go ahead.”

 

Wonwoo recited everything that happened to him and Mingyu yesterday, not missing a single detail and also adding in what happened to Mingyu as well before Wonwoo had stepped in. He ended his explanation by handing Jisoo the device they nabbed from the man in the trench coat yesterday.

 

“He thought Mingyu was me thus why he somehow lead his ‘trap’ in the building. I’m not sure what he was planning to do with him- well, me though,” Jisoo was busy analyzing the device in his hands.

 

“I’m no tech expert but I’ll try to look into it with Hansol,” Jisoo says.

 

Wonwoo frowns. “How come it’s fine for Hansol to know about us and not Mingyu?”

 

“Because, Wonwoo,” Jisoo began, “Hansol was there when my powers ‘awakened’.”

 

The younger tilts his head. “Honestly, no offence, but I still have no idea how you knew your powers ‘awakened’. Your powers aren’t really…physical.”

 

Jisoo chuckles. “Well…maybe I haven’t been completely honest with you guys.” His answer causes four pairs of eyes to widen in shock.

 

“Oh!? Write that down, Soonyoung!” Wonwoo exclaims, “Hong Jisoo’s a liar!” The elder complies without another word.

 

Minghao scans the board. “So far…we have our debt with the club owner, Kwon Soonyoung’s destructive tendencies, Jeon Wonwoo exposing himself, Jeon Wonwoo’s developed power, Jeon Wonwoo using his powers against innocent people, and Hong Jisoo is a bitchass liar. Anything else?”

 

“I’m not destructive,” Soonyoung scoffs, “the guy totally had it coming.”

 

“Minghao being disrespectful to his elders,” Wonwoo chimes in.

 

“I am not.”

 

“Yes you are.”

 

“So I’m the least problematic here?” Jun says, looking around the room.

 

“Oh no you’re not. We just haven’t gotten to you yet,” Minghao drones, pointing a finger at the elder.

 

“Can we focus on the subject now?” Jisoo complains, “first we’re dealing with Wonwoo’s issue then we’ll get to our debt, alright? Everything else will be dealt with next week.” The other four in the room nods to that.

 

“I’m more worried about the man in the trench coat than Mingyu knowing about me,” Wonwoo admitted, “he…he knew my name. And which school I went to.” The fact that the man now knew his face, Wonwoo had to admit that he was scared. It wasn’t that he was helpless, but the fact that the man could dig deeper and find his personal information was what scared him. “I couldn’t even try and manipulate his mind. There’s something really off about him.” Everyone in the room looks at Wonwoo sympathetically.

 

Jisoo stands up to move closer to Wonwoo, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Wonwoo. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Wonwoo nods slowly, still rather unsure. “Do tell us about your development.”

 

Wonwoo’s lips curve into a small smile. “Well, I can now manipulate and control people’s minds without saying anything. Still requires a lot of concentration and it drains my energy a lot, depends on what I make them do. The stunt I made Minghao do pretty much drained my energy for the rest of the day and I couldn’t concentrate in class much.”

 

Jun snickers. “What exactly did you make Minghao do?”

 

Wonwoo smirks at the elder. “Well, why don’t you ask the man himself?”

 

Without another word, Minghao lunges at Wonwoo, locking the elder in a headlock. Wonwoo was laughing, hands trying to rip Minghao’s arms off him while Minghao was busy cursing in Chinese.

 

Soonyoung clears his throat, “anyways, Jisoo wants to tell us all something.” Jisoo clasps his hands together, smiling brightly.

 

“I just got a text from Hansol saying that he found a way to earn money in a sort of legal way!” Jisoo exclaims, hands waving awkwardly in the air. Soonyoung was grinning with him. Jun, Minghao, and Wonwoo exchanged looks, eying each other with a puzzled look. Soonyoung gestures everyone to gather around the table in the middle of the room.

 

“This here, my friends,” Soonyoung was busy swiping the screen of his tablet, “is our loot.”

 

He places the tablet on top of the small coffee table while the others gather around the table to take a look. Wonwoo peers over Jun’s shoulder, placing his head on the elder’s shoulder. Jun slightly leans his head against Wonwoo’s.

 

On the screen was a picture of a sinister-looking man who seemed to be in his mid 40s, there were bits and pieces about him underneath the picture and a huge amount of money written in a large font. From what’s been written, the man is a leader of a lesser-known gang.

 

Kim Daejung.

 

Jun was the first to react. “So we’re bounty hunters now. And we’re supposed to kill him.” He sounded rather amused than annoyed.

 

Soonyoung nods enthusiastically. “Cool, right? It’s basically like what we’re doing now…but with loot!”

 

Jisoo nodded at that. “And once again, Hansol saved the day,” he spoke in very fatherly tone, making Wonwoo cringe.

 

Minghao blinks. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

 

For a moment, Wonwoo grew doubtful about the plan.

 

“It’ll be fine,” Soonyoung reassures.

 

“But,” Wonwoo began, “if things go south, we’ll be in huge trouble.”

 

“But it’s always been like that, Wonwoo,” Soonyoung turns to look at the younger, “there’s always been a huge risk waiting every time we take on missions. It’s nothing unfamiliar to us.”

 

“Yeah but the people we’ve dealt with were never this powerful,” retorted Minghao, “they were mere punks, dealers, and all that. _Not_ a leader of some head of a mafia. Even if we get him killed, imagine how many of those punks are going to be after our asses.” Wonwoo knew that both he and Minghao weren’t exactly against the plan, but rather worried about the outcome. Despite the abilities they have, they were still high school kids.

 

Soonyoung waves Minghao off. “The client promises that nothing would happen to us after we take our guy down. We just need to kill this Daejung guy, nab our cash, and we’re free! Of the debt and the whatever situation our client is stuck in!” That seemed to convince both Wonwoo and Minghao, who eventually shrug in agreement.

 

Jun makes a face. “Well. I’m just wondering how Hansol managed to find this odd job for us.”

 

The sentence made Jisoo beam once more. “I know right? We should invite him over here sometimes. He can be our tech guy or something,” Jisoo thought for a moment, “well, he did tell me it wasn’t his idea, but his friend’s – Seungkwan’s – idea. Maybe he can be our tech whizz too.” Jisoo was met with four blank stares. “Anyway, that’s all for today. We’ll meet up again to discuss the plan on Saturday and we move out at night, alright? I’ll have Hansol and Seungkwan give us the details of the person from our client.”

 

Jun blinks. “Just what kind of people goes to your school, Jisoo?” Jisoo playfully elbows the younger, earning a soft grunt from the latter. “Anyways,” Jun began, “what did Wonwoo make Minghao do?”

 

Wonwoo has never smiled so wide before.

 

~•~

 

“Wonwoo,” the third year looked up from his book, his gaze was met by an all too familiar one

 

“Mingyu,” the elder closes his book, smiling up to the tall second year towering over him. Wonwoo pushes his glasses up before scooting over the right. “What brings you to the rooftop?”

 

The younger scratches his head, suddenly avoiding Wonwoo’s gaze. Wonwoo did not miss the slight hint of red on Mingyu’s cheeks and the tip of his ears. He giggles softly at that.

 

“I uh,” Mingyu was holding a lunch box on his right hand, “I thought we could eat together up here. Seungcheol told me I’d find you here.” The taller went to sit down next the spot Wonwoo gave him. “But it seems like you’re not really eating.”

 

Wonwoo laughs. “No need to look so tense, Mingyu. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

 

Mingyu looked panicked for a moment, but he was able to keep a cool composure. “I’m just uh, worried that you’d find it weird for me to suddenly be around you so much. You’re a third year and I’m a second year and…we didn’t really talk to each other much until several months ago.” Mingyu had first met Wonwoo when the elder been bullied into running errands by Mr. Kim after class. Coincidentally, Mingyu was the only student in the library that afternoon when Wonwoo had accidentally knocked down the fishbowl in the back of the library ( _“WHO THE HELL PUTS FISHBOWLS UNSUPERVISED IN LIBRARIES!?” Wonwoo had yelled to the phone back then)_ , which killed Bongbong, the school’s beloved goldfish mascot.

 

Mingyu remembered Wonwoo panicking so much that he was nearly in tears – which was a pretty rare sight, Wonwoo _never_ cries – during a phone call with Seungcheol, who was also clueless on how to help him. Mingyu had thought of himself as a knight in shining armor when he came up to his senior, telling him that they could just fill the bowl with water, place Bongbong back inside of it and tell everyone that Bongbong’s died on its own.

 

Seems like Wonwoo’s mind did not work well whenever he’s in a panicked state because Mingyu remembered Wonwoo hugging him so tight that it cut off his air circulation. Who knew someone so thin had that much arm power.

 

Wonwoo snorted. “Oh come on, Mingyu, don’t give me that. You know my deepest and darkest secret. I wouldn’t exactly see you as some second year.” Wonwoo was right. Getting to know about Wonwoo’s rather odd self was a privilege indeed.

 

Mingyu chuckles. “I guess so.”

 

“Besides, it’s the best I can do for you after the whole Bongbong incident.”

 

Mingyu cringes at that. “I heard they got a new Bongbong.”

 

The elder shook his head. “If only they knew what happened to original one.”

 

They both laughed at that.

 

“So,” Mingyu says between chews, “how has your life been?” Wonwoo immediately understood what Mingyu was referring to. After all, Wonwoo did forget about Mingyu’s request that he had sent to him over text.

 

“So I told my friends that you knew about me,” Wonwoo replies, “they weren’t really happy, especially Mi- especially one of them. He’s a shape shifter.” Mingyu swallows his food and nods understandingly.

 

Mingyu was quiet for a moment. “I guess I’ll just get to the point.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“What do you do outside of school? You mentioned about being in a group with people just like you, so I’m guessing you’re in some sort of organization. But what do you do there?”

 

Wonwoo thought for a moment. “We do odd jobs I guess. Like requests we receive from our website.”

 

Mingyu’s eyes widen. “You have a website where people can request you to things?”

 

The elder nods. “Yeah. They’re mostly little problems, like taking out some thieves, dealers, bullies from school, abusive family members…” Wonwoo trails off, unsure if he could mention the other things.

 

“And?” Mingyu presses on.

 

“Some kind of illegal things, I guess.”

 

“What do you mean ‘kind off’?” Mingyu questions, “I’m not going to judge you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

Wonwoo sighs. “Some rather problematic things like…destroying relationships for our clients…manipulating results like grades and such…but nothing that problematic. Just some grey area things. We know where to draw the line.”

 

Mingyu was surprised with Wonwoo’s answer. He never really thought Wonwoo would be the type of person to take requests like that. Mingyu had always known Wonwoo as the nice guy, the thought of him doing things like that was beyond Mingyu’s imagination.

 

“I…oh…” Mingyu looks around, “theoretically speaking, what if I was in the relationship your client wanted to ruin? Would you do it?”

 

Wonwoo smiles sheepishly. “I’m afraid I might have to. We can’t really turn them down. Sometimes they give us tips and that’s what’s keeping us financially stable.”

 

Mingyu presses his lips into a thin line.

 

“I see.”

 

Seems Wonwoo was very much in the grey area.

 

But then again, who isn’t?

 

“I’m taking an even bigger job this weekend though,” Wonwoo suddenly says, changing the subject.

 

“Really?”

 

Even Wonwoo wasn’t sure why he was telling Mingyu.

 

“Yeah. He’s some head of a mafia. My team and I are supposed to kill him.”

 

Mingyu nearly choked on the rice he was eating, which alarmed Wonwoo who immediately handed Mingyu’s own water bottle to him. After several pats in the backs from the elder, Mingyu had finally calmed down.

 

“You okay?” Wonwoo enquires.

 

Mingyu nodded, still trying to regain his composure. “Yeah…sure…” Mingy closes his eyes shut before opening again. “You’re gonna what now?”

 

“Kill a man. We’re going to kill a man.”

 

No matter how many times Wonwoo had told him, Mingyu couldn’t help the feeling of shock and fear at the same time.

 

“Well I’m obviously not the one to kill him since I’m basically powerless,” Wonwoo chuckles. “

 

Mingyu widens his eyes in disbelief. “That’s wrong! You can basically mind control him to get himself killed! Or control one of his grunts to do the job for you guys so you’ll never get caught!”

 

Wonwoo frowns. “Unfortunately, the stunt I pulled on Minghao yesterday was pretty tiring for me. I doubt I can do something like that just yet.”

 

“That really sucks,” Mingyu sighs, “you have a really cool ability, you know. Imagine how powerful you’d become if you manage to utilize it’s full power. I’m pretty envious of you now.”

 

Wonwoo laughs, slapping Mingyu’s shoulder lightly. “That’s really cute, Mingyu. I feel flattered. I mean, who knows you probably do have one and perhaps it’s within you but dormant.”

 

Mingyu slightly blushes at Wonwoo’s remark, but manages to muster a smirk. “Yeah? What kind of power do you think I’d have?” Mingyu unconsciously leans his face closer to Wonwoo’s. The shorter teen was slightly taken aback at first before smiling back up to Mingyu.

 

“Oh I don’t know…the power to save my ass from Mr. Kim’s wrath?” Wonwoo jokes, “or the power of having an oh-so charming personality? Nah, you already do have that. I can’t really blame the whole school for being head over heels for you.”

 

Mingyu scrunches his face. “That was disgustingly cheesy, Wonwoo. I hate you.” However, Mingyu pumps his fist in joy over Wonwoo’s compliment towards him, which went unnoticed by the elder, who was now smiling down to his book again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> meanie's tension tho lmao 
> 
> updated power chart: 
> 
> wonu: mind control (can now control people's minds without saying anything! but it drains most of his energy so he can't really make much use of it) 
> 
> hao: shape shifting, omnilingualism 
> 
> jun: shadow manipulation
> 
> jisoo: analytical expert, omnicompetence, ??? 
> 
> soonyoung: super speed
> 
> twt: repiayminho, cc: tohoshimkis, ig: tohoshimki, tumblr, mxkyuns


	6. six.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So they decide on codenames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i honestly didn't expect that it would reach 400+ hits? i rlly thought it was gonna flop but omg thank you all :"

Recess was 5 minutes away from being over. Mingyu noticed that Wonwoo has yet to touch his food. Frowning, he gently nudges the elder with his elbow, which causes him to look up from his book.

 

“You’re not gonna eat?”

 

Wonwoo glances at his boxed lunch on the floor before looking back up to Mingyu. “Uh, I’ll eat after I finish this chapter.” Wonwoo showed Mingyu a glimpse of what he was reading.

 

Seeing that Wonwoo was trying hard to divert the subject, Mingyu sighs before entertaining him about his book. “So, what are you reading, exactly?”

 

“The Outsiders,” came Wonwoo’s reply.

 

Mingyu thought for a moment. “Isn’t that a movie?”

 

Wonwoo nodded. “It was adapted into a movie. The movie’s okay, but you should really try reading the novel.” Of course, the novel Wonwoo had in his hands was translated to Korean. Mingyu remembered watching the movie in English with subtitles with his younger sister. Though it’s been way too long for Mingyu to remember anything from the movie.

 

“I guess I’ll read it if I have time…” No, Mingyu had no patience to read novels. He didn’t feel guilty lying to Wonwoo, however.

 

Wonwoo chuckles. “You should read it before you get into your final year. The only time I have to read this is during recess and the weekends.”

 

“Well you have a ‘job’, right?” Mingyu retorted.

 

Wonwoo’s phone suddenly vibrated. The elder places his book on his lap before reaching into his pocket. His eyes narrow as he read the message he’s received. He suddenly stands up with his book in hand and phone shoved back into his pocket.

 

“Mingyu, I really need to go,” Wonwoo mutters out loud enough for Mingyu to hear. The younger’s mood immediately deflates, which went unnoticed by Wonwoo since the latter was staring off to the distance.

 

Instead, Mingyu snickers. “So the rumors are true then?”

 

“What rumors?” Wonwoo turns to look at Mingyu.

 

“That you’re starting to skip class a lot. You’re the talk of the school right now, y’know,” replies Mingyu.

 

“I don’t really listen to those,” Wonwoo chortles, “funny that people care so much about that. I’m not the only one who skips class in this damn school.”

 

“Probably because you’re a ‘good student’,” Mingyu sniggers, “by the way, didn’t you say you have to go?”

 

Wonwoo nods. “Yeah. My ‘boss’ summoned me. So uh, I know people are going to notice my absence but don’t tell anyone, yeah?”

 

Mingyu pretends to close the zipper on his lips with a playful smirk. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

 

Wonwoo rolls his eyes, though he was smiling. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’ll be going now.” Wonwoo waves him off before heading towards the stairs. Mingyu watches him disappear into the door leading to the stairs.

 

Mingyu frowns upon noticing Wonwoo’s abandoned boxed lunch.

 

“Stubborn much?” Mingyu grumbles to himself, grabbing his senior’s boxed lunch and stacking it on top of his empty one. He leans back against the wall, sighing.

 

Once the bell rang, Mingyu was already sat on his chair, burying his face into his arms. He glances up to see Minghao’s seat, which was surprisingly empty. Mingyu rose from his slumped position and looks around the room to see if Minghao was anywhere in the room, but of course, the other male was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Where the hell is that brat?” Mingyu hisses. Of course he was pissed that his best friend didn’t tell him that he would be ditching class. Obviously, Mingyu would have went and joined him; it didn’t matter what Minghao was planning to do by skipping as long as Mingyu could avoid Mr. Kim’s class.

 

Mingyu turns to his other side where Seokmin sat. The other male was currently typing away on his phone, a large grin on his face. Mingyu reached over to tap him. Seokmin’s smile did not falter even when the latter turned to look at him.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Where the hell is Hao?” asks Mingyu.

 

Seokmin looks around the room in confusion. “He bailed on me in the cafeteria earlier. He said he went to see you?”

 

Mingyu gapes. “He…didn’t go to me at all.”

 

Seokmin’s eyes widen. “But he said he saw you in class?”

 

“Dude, I was on the rooftop, remember?” Seokmin thought for a moment before turning his phone off and curses aloud.

 

“So Minghao skipped class…without inviting us…” Seokmin grumbles lowly. Mingyu could tell whenever Seokmin gets into a bad mood. The guy was pretty obvious with his emotions.

 

Mingyu huffs. “Seems like it.” Mingyu was quiet for a moment before speaking up again. “Let’s skip class too.”

 

Seokmin nearly chokes on his own spit.

 

“Are you out of your mind!? Do you really want to give more reasons for Mr. Kim to hate our us!?” Seokmin snaps. Mingyu thought about it. Mr. Kim hated Seungcheol and Jeonghan for what they did to him, and also Wonwoo by association. Mingyu, Seokmin, and Minghao skipped class often as well, thus putting them in Mr. Kim’s blacklist. It didn’t help that all 6 of them hung around each other. Seokmin was pretty much worried about having a teacher hate him, while Minghao and Mingyu were pretty much used to it.

 

Mingyu flashes a smirk. “Oh come on! Mr. Kim’s not in class yet, this is our chance!” Before he knew it, Mingyu was already pulling a baffled Seokmin out of class, earning looks from the rest of the class. The hallway wasn’t completely empty yet, there were several students still roaming around and a handful of teachers as well.

 

Seokmin wasn’t exactly fighting back so Mingyu took it as a sign that Seokmin was down for the plan, though his face did tell otherwise. The latter had a rather worried look, but Mingyu couldn’t care less.

 

Mingyu finally lets go of Seokmin’s arm and the shorter teen didn’t stop following him. Mingyu carefully looks around so the teachers wouldn’t catch them in the act again. He shudders remembering the last time a teacher caught him, Minghao, and Seokmin trying to skip class. Needless to say, he almost forgot how the sun felt like.

 

Seokmin suddenly halts Mingyu from moving forward. The taller looks at Seokmin with a puzzled look, but the latter grabs Mingyu’s jaw and forces him to look into another direction. Mingyu’s eyes widen at the sight of the infamous Mr. Kim walking down the hallway, eyes focused on his phone. Mingyu shushes Seokmin before dashing past Mr. Kim – quietly – and running for the door. To their luck the security guard had fallen asleep, in a rather odd position, thought Mingyu. Though judging from that, Mingyu guesses that it was all Wonwoo’s work.

 

After going through the gates, they ran far enough from school. After reaching a certain point, Mingyu and Seokmin leaned against the wall, panting. They took off their blazers and uniform shirt, stuffing them into their bags, and were now clad in black t-shirts.

 

“Now what?” Seokmin questions.

 

“Let’s try to find Minghao,” Mingyu replies.

 

Seokmin looked unsure. “It’s a big city, man. He could be anywhere.” Mingyu slings his bag in his shoulder again and gestured Seokmin to follow him. The latter sighs before helplessly following the other.

 

“Where are we even going?” Seokmin asks after a while. Mingyu shrugs in reply. “What the hell do you mean by that?” Seokmin watches the other continue walking aimlessly with a tired look.

 

~•~

 

“You’re all third years, right? You, Soonyoung, Junhui, and Jisoo?” Minghao asks Wonwoo as the two teenagers walk on the sidewalk. They didn’t have time to grab their bags earlier so Wonwoo hid his and Minghao’s uniform blazers inside his locker before rushing out of school. Minghao had suggested disguising as Wonwoo’s mother to take him out of school, though since Wonwoo’s mind control had an upgrade, Wonwoo insisted on doing the job.

 

Unfortunately, Wonwoo was a dumbass and he nearly collapsed after making the security guard walk back into his post and pass out against a chair.

 

_“You’re such an idiot, don’t overdo things,” Minghao had told him._

 

Wonwoo had somewhat regained a little energy. “Yeah. We are.”

 

“Aren’t you worried about your grades and such? Shouldn’t you be thinking about college instead of doing this?” Minghao shoots back.

 

Wonwoo chuckles dryly. “Maybe I kinda like this life.”

 

“So you’re not going to college?”

 

“Of course I am. My mom would kill me if I’m not.”

 

Minghao laughs at that. “So where are you planning to go?”

 

The older thought for a moment. “Well there’s this one university Junhui and I have been eying. Hopefully we both can get in.” The reply shut Minghao up, the younger’s expression visibly changed and he looked like he was about to say something but closes his mouth instead. Wonwoo failed to notice that, however.

 

Suddenly, Minghao’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He unlocks it to see that the notification came from their group chat.

 

“Wonwoo, open your phone,” Minghao had told the elder. Wonwoo complies.

 

**justice league knockoffs (5)**

**hoshi:** you guys are taking FOREVER @wonu @hao

**hao:** well i’m sorry we go to a private school. security’s tight. we had to use wonwoo’s powers wisely.

 

 **shua:** well let me just get my point through here since we’re moving out tomorrow

 **shua:** cause we’re doing a short meeting once you get here and then we’ll be off to meet our client

**hoshi:** JISOO LET ME DO IT PLS

 **hoshi:** SO FROM NOW ON WE’LL BE USING CODENAMES

 **hoshi:** YOU CAN ADDRESS ME AS EAGLE ONE

 

 **june:** don’t fucking quote parks and rec on me kwon soonyoung

 

 **hoshi:** too late

**shua:** soon pls

 

 **hoshi:** fINE

 **hoshi:** so we’ll be using codenames for tomorrow’s mission

 **hoshi:** i’m obviously using hoshi

 

 **wonu:** isn’t that ur dance stagename

 

 **hoshi:** yup

 

 **hao:** fine i’m using the8

 

 **june:** what kind of name is the8 lol

 

 **hao:** shut up i don’t see you coming up with anything better

 

 **june:** well

 **june:** yea

 

 **shua:** at least give us a back

 

 **hao:** the8 bc if u turn the 8 sideways you get an infinite. meaning i’m a person of infinite possibilities.

 **hao:** getit cause i can shape shift to many people…and speak any language…?

 

 **shua:** that’s valid i guess

 **shua:** uh

 **shua:** idk what mine will be

 **shua:** Joshua?

 

 **hoshi:** dude no

 **hoshi:** what kind of superhero name is Joshua tf

 **hoshi:** ‘headline: joshua saves the day once again1!!!!”

 

 **hao:** LMAO

 **hao:** I CANT OMG JOSHUA IS JUSTA RANDOM DUDE’S NAME

 

 **shua:** SHUT UP MINGHAO IT’S MY FUCKING NAME

 **shua:** OKAY I GET IT

 

 **hoshi:** wbu? @wonu @june

 

 **wonu:** ugh

 **wonu:** i suck at this can someone help

 

 **hoshi:** hm

 **hoshi:** wonton boy?

 

 **june:** i just read wonton boy to the tune of uptown girl im caklingbkhasdfuas

 

 **hoshi:** WONTON BOY

 **hoshi:** HE’S BEEN LIVING IN HIS WHITE BREAD WORLD

 

 **wonu:** stfu

 

 **shua:** what about joker?

 

 **wonu:** from persona?

 

 **shua:** no, batman joker

 

 **wonu:** is it bc of that dumb play i did back in my first year with the clown mask

 

 **shua:** yes

 

 **wonu:** howd u even know abt it

 

 **hao:** shut up we’re in the front door open up Jisoo

 

“Took you a while,” Junhui was the one to open the door. He scans both Minghao and Wonwoo’s appearances before giving the older of the two a sympathetic look. “You okay, Wonwoo?”

 

Wonwoo nodded. He must’ve looked somewhat tired. “I’m good.”

 

Junhui was still frowning but nodded anyway. Minghao looks between the two with an unreadable expression before slipping inside without another word. Wonwoo follows the younger and leans into the arm Junhui had slung over his shoulder.

 

“So what took you guys so long?”

 

“I was talking to a friend,” Wonwoo replies curtly, “lost track of time.” Junhui laughs at that, patting his shoulder a little.”

 

“You need to pay more attention, Won.”

 

Wonwoo playfully shoves him off before making a beeline towards the garage entrance and Junhui follows him with a smile on his face.

 

Entering the room, Soonyoung rolls his eyes at the sight of his two taller friends.

 

“You two are gross, get a room,” complains Soonyoung, earning a laugh from Jisoo, a puzzled look from Wonwoo, a glare from Junhui, and of course, Minghao chose not to react to that.

 

“So,” Jisoo began, breaking the awkwardness in the room, “codenames.”

 

Minghao cringes at that. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you call yourself Joshua.”

 

Jisoo glares at him. “It’s just a codename, it’s not like we’re labeling ourselves with hero names.”

 

The younger sighs. “Yeah but everyone will start calling us with those codenames once word goes around. Joshua is literally your English name, dumbass.”

 

“Hey, respect your elders-“

 

“As long as you’re not calling yourself Joshua, I will,” Minghao replies stubbornly. Minghao then turns to Wonwoo, “what about you?”

 

Wonwoo shrugs. “I don’t know.”

 

Junhui huffs. “Is this really necessary?”

 

Soonyoung nods. “We can’t risk having our names exposed, Jun.”

 

“Fine. Then my codename will be J.”

 

Wonwoo snorts. “That’s creative.”

 

“As in Jay? Jay Park?” Soonyoung was grinning ear to ear, Junhui laughs. The others in the room sigh at that.

 

“Sure, sure, that’ll work,” Junhui replies. Soonyoung immediately went to his phone and typed something. “What are you doing?” Junhui went to peak at Soonyoung’s screen.

 

Soonyoung looks up. “Changing our names at the group chat.”

 

“But Jisoo and Wonwoo don’t have names yet.”

 

“Wonwoo is Wonton Boy.”

 

Wonwoo jumps and grabs Soonyoung’s phone out of his hands. “Hell no! Don’t you fucking dare!”

 

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “Then come up with a name, dumbass.”

 

Minghao was observing Wonwoo’s face a bit too seriously and the elder started to grow uncomfortable. “W-what are you looking at me like that for?” The younger male remained quiet.

 

“You kinda look like a fox,” Minghao finally says, Wonwoo mouths a ‘what’ at that, “maybe your codename should be fox or some sort.”

 

Wonwoo frowns. “Just Fox? That sounds generic.”

 

“What about Fennec?” Junhui spoke up, earning a look from Wonwoo. Junhui smirks before continuing, “cause…fennec foxes are cute.”

 

Wonwoo’s cheeks redden before he slaps Junhui’s shoulder a bit too hard. “Shut up, I hate you.” Junhui smiles cheekily at him, though his eyes clearly showed that he was in pain from the slap earlier, and ruffles Wonwoo’s hair.

 

Soonyoung looked like he was about to rip his hair out. “For the love of- can you please hurry up? We don’t have time for this!” He turns to Jisoo. “You. Hurry.” Soonyoung went back to his phone to change Wonwoo’s name despite the latter’s protests.

 

Jisoo looked panicked. “Uh,” he looked at Wonwoo for help, but unfortunately, the younger was busy protesting that he didn’t agree to the name.

 

Apparently Soonyoung chose not to wait. “You’re taking to long! You’re Director, like it or not!” Soonyoung types away angrily and Jisoo obediently nods without another word. “So now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss the plan.” Soonyoung ignored the small ‘what kind of name is that? you really suck at names,’ Minghao muttered out.

 

Wonwoo sighs. It’s going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man i really suck at names. should've chosen the members of svt with stagenames so it's less work for me hhhh i had to google synonyms and such. you can clearly see i didnt know what to call shua lol.

**Author's Note:**

> im a bit new to the svt fandom so forgive me if something sounds out of place...
> 
> so the other guys' powers will be revealed in the later chapters. just a heads up, only wonwoo, minghao, jun, jisoo, and soonyoung have powers in this fic. everyone else are normal dudes. 
> 
> i'm sorry if i made any grammatical errors bc english is not my first language.


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